One of the advantages of this post was that it brought him into constant communion with many eminent medical men, and rendered him practically acquainted with their treatment of disease. His skill in phonography enabled him to take abundant notes of their lectures, and this led to his early connection with the periodical literature of the profession. Most of the reports he drew up were published in the Medical and Surgical Reporter, a weekly journal, devoted to medical science, published in Philadelphia. The series of reports commenced in April, 1866, and continued, with slight interruptions, until June, 1870. They are characterized by a clear and correct style, and a manifestly thorough grasp of the numerous topics treated.
The success which these ephemeral writings obtained turned his thoughts in the direction of authorship. His tastes and associations led him to employ his powers in two directions: first, in preparing for the general public a series of works which would acquaint them with anatomy, physiology, hygiene, sanitary science, nursing, and the management of disease, to the extent that intelligent general readers can and ought to know about these subjects; and secondly, in writing for professional men several treatises on the means of alleviating and curing diseases.
In the prosecution of the first mentioned of these plans, he was early impressed with the utter absence of any treatise on the hygiene of the sexual life in either sex, written in the proper spirit by a scientific man. The field had been left to quacks or worse, who, to serve their own base ends, scattered inflammatory and often indecent pamphlets over the land; or else, had one or more of the points been handled by reputable writers, it was in such a vague and imperfect manner that the reader gained little benefit from the perusal. While all agreed that a sound treatise on these topics was most desirable, it had been openly averred that it could not be written in a proper style for the general public.
Strong in the conviction that pure motives, literary tact, and the requisite scientific knowledge qualified him to undertake this difficult task, Dr. Napheys prepared, in the early months of 1869, his work on “The Physical Life of Woman.” Proceeding with caution, he first submitted the MSS. to some professional friends, and profited by their suggestions. After the work was in type, and before publication, he sent complete copies to a number of gentlemen, eminent as medical teachers, clergymen, educators, and literateurs. Their replies left him in no doubt but that he had succeeded even beyond his anticipations. Almost unanimously the opinions were complimentary in the highest degree, and evidently written after a close examination of the book. As many of these have been printed to accompany the work, in the last and previous editions, it is needless to do more in this connection than to say that they were penned by such judges as Dr. W. A. Hammond, late Surgeon-General U. S. Army; Dr. Harvey L. Byrd, Professor in the Medical Department of Washington University, Md.; Dr. Edwin M. Snow, Health Officer of the City of Providence, R. I.; Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, Rev. Horace Bushnell, d.d., Rev. George A. Crooke, d.d., d.c.l., and others.
On its appearance, the work was received with enthusiasm by both the medical press and the public. While a few journals and individuals were inclined to condemn it and censure the author, the intelligent and the pure-minded, on all sides, recognized in him the only writer who had yet appeared able to treat these delicate subjects with the dignity of science and the straightforwardness necessary for popular instruction.
Satisfied that he had chosen the proper exercise for his talents, he composed and placed in the hands of his publisher, the following year, his not less extraordinary work, “The Transmission of Life,” a treatise addressed to the male, as his previous one had been to the female sex. It was dedicated to the late Rev. John Todd, so well known for his interest in young men, and his “Student's Manual” and other works addressed to them. He accepted the dedication and addressed the author a letter, in which occurs the following high compliment to his work: “I am surprised at the extent and accuracy of your reading; the judiciousness of your positions and results; the clear, unequivocal, yet delicate and appropriate language used; and the amount of valuable information conveyed.” Similar expressions poured in from many other distinguished critics, as, for instance, Dr. Noah Porter, President of Yale College; the Rev. Henry Clay Trumbull, the Rev. Abner Jackson, President of Trinity College, Hartford, etc.
In the same year (1870) he brought out the first edition of his “Modern Therapeutics,” a technical work, addressed to physicians. This was enlarged in successive editions, until in its present form, as continued by other hands in its latest editions, it comprises two parts of 600 pages each. Although the author claimed little other originality in this work than the selection and arrangement of known facts, yet in these respects he displayed the strongly practical and original turn of his mind. As a student of the art of Therapeutics in large hospitals, clinics, and dispensaries, he had convinced himself that it is not by experiments on lower animals, nor yet on the human body in health, that the physician can attain the glorious power of alleviating pain and curing disease; it is only through the daily combat with sickness, by the bedside and in the consulting room. Chemistry and physiology, he believed, could teach but little in this branch; observation and experience everything. Hence, in his work on Therapeutics he announced himself as “aiming at a systematic analysis of all current and approved means of combating disease,” selecting his formulæ and therapeutical directions from the most eminent living physicians of all nations.
This work was most favorably received by medical men; and, edited and revised by competent hands, continues to be regarded as one of the most valuable works in American medical literature. The unanimous opinion of the leading medical journals, as well as of its numerous purchasers, have testified to its real and great worth to the practitioner of medicine.
Having thus established a wide, popular and professional reputation, one which would have guaranteed him a lucrative practice, it would have tempted another, no doubt, to make the most of this opportunity, so rarely granted a young physician. Not so was it with Dr. Napheys. No sooner had the three works mentioned been completed than he sailed for Europe, in order to familiarize himself with the famed schools of learning of the Old World and its rich stores of material for culture. The summer was that of the Franco-German war; and spending most of it in Paris, he was witness of several of the most exciting scenes which attended the dethronement of the Emperor. These he would describe afterwards with a vividness and power of language rarely excelled.
The excitement of the period did not, however, withdraw his attention from the studies he had in view. These were partially indicated in a series of letters he contributed to various periodicals during his absence. While these letters were principally of a scientific character, it is noteworthy how the relations of medicine to the welfare of man always occupied his attention. Thus we find, in one sent from England, June, 1870, a description of the Liverpool Medical Missionary Society, a charity which combines religious instruction with medical advice; and again, he comments on the popular instruction in hygiene which was supplied at that period to the English workingmen by a committee of competent physicians, organized for that purpose. It was the author's purpose to collect and expand these letters into a volume, but the project was not carried out.